The present invention relates generally to hand carrying devices and more particularly to devices for carrying a plurality of clothes hangers upon which garments or similar items may be mounted.
Wire clothes hangers are widely used for both storing garments in closets and the like and for moving them from place to place with a minimum of wrinkling and folding. The original approach to the problem of carrying such hangers was to simply insert one or more fingers through the hook portion of several hangers and lift them over one's shoulder to minimize the force concentrated on the fingers holding the hangers. However, as the weight of the garments and/or the number of hangers increases, this can become uncomfortable and even quite painful, particularly in the region of the fingers, which generally tend to become tightly pinched together by the hangers. As commercial retail cleaning establishments began increasing in popularity, the occasions calling for the carrying back and forth of multiple garments on clothes hangers became more frequent. Consequently, various attempts have been made to produce a device which would enable a number of such hangers to be carried together conveniently and without the usual discomfort and which would still be economically feasible. One such attempt consisted of a sheet of stiff material with a hole in it through which the carrier's hand could pass. Additional holes were provided to receive a number of clothes hangers. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,782,974, issued to Borgfeldt. However, this device was comparatively bulky, of rigid construction, not compatible with the automated conveyors now in use in most retail cleaning stores and required complex cutting and folding operations in its manufacture. Another attempt to cope with this problem can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,606,967, issued to Roberts. This device consisted of a rectangular handle fixedly connected to a straight support flange member which contained an elongated aperture for accommodating clothes hangers. This device too was bulky and of rigid or semi-rigid construction and its lack of flexibility, particularly in the support flange member, rendered it unadaptable for optimum use on the conveyors used by dry cleaning establishments. In others words, it is apparently impossible to take a number of hangers supporting the clothes of a particular customer which were already mounted on the multiple hanger handle and place them on a clothes conveyor without first removing them from the device because the path of the conveyor has curved portions and the rigid or semi-rigid hanger handle cannot easily bend to conform to the curves. In addition, it would appear from the size and rigidity of the device that it would interfere with the moving parts of the conveyor and conveyor rail mechanism through which the clothes hangers are placed. Thus, the cleaned garments of any one customer could not be segregated on the cleaning establishment's conveyors through the use of the device. The hangers would have to be removed from the conveyors and individually placed into the device while the customer was in the establishment, thus causing unnecessary delay and loss of time to the customer as well as the dry cleaning establishment. Further as a result of the rigid or semi-rigid construction of the straight support flange, there was transmitted to the hand of an individual carrying a number of hangers in an over the shoulder fashion a moment of force equal approximately to the total weight of the clothes being carried times the average distance of the hangers from the shoulder of the carrier. This moment of force, or torque, added significantly to the discomfort and difficulty in carrying numerous garments in this fashion.
Other approaches to the problem recognized the advantages of flexibility over rigidity. However, these attempts resulted in flexible strap type handles having either rigid or flexible hanger support members. The individual would extend his hand through the flexible strap and carry the clothes in an over the shoulder position. However, because the weight of the garments was concentrated on a relatively small area of the individual's hand, these devices did little to reduce the discomfort which resulted as the number and weight of the garments being carried increased. In addition, devices of this type often consisted of several parts which had to be separately manufactured and then assembled, thus rendering the devices relatively expensive and not feasilbe economically.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved multiple hanger carrying device.
Another object of the invention is to provide a hanger carrying device which will enable one person to easily and comfortably carry a plurality of hangers upon which clothes have been mounted.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a hanger carrying device which evenly distributes the weight of the garments over a relatively large area of the hand thereby reducing the discomfort normally associated with carrying a plurality of encumbered clothes hangers.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a hanger carrying device which is capable of one piece construction and economical manufacture.
Another object of the invention is to provide a hanger carrying device which is an inexpensive throw-away item such as one which can be distributed gratuitously by dry cleaning establishments to their customers.
A further object of the invention is to provide a hanger carrying device which is flexible and easily adaptable for use on automatic conveyors commonly used by retail cleaning establishments.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a hanger carrying device which has both a rigid, palm-fitting handle to prevent concentration of the weight on a small area of the fingers and a flexible strap to eliminate the effect of torque forces on the hand and wrist when carrying garments in an over the shoulder manner.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description set forth below in light of the accompanying drawings.